‘We played with dignity’

Panama head coach Hernan Dario Gomez has insisted that his side can take some pride from their 0-3 defeat to Belgium at the World Cup finals.

The Los Canaleros boss admitted their opponents would have scored more, but felt that his side did well to avoid losing by a landslide scoreline.

“It would have been terrible if they had scored more. Nobody likes losing but considering our opponents and our history it is a normal result and they could have scored more,” BBC Sport quotes Gomez as saying.

“It is not a positive result, but they could have won by a landslide and there were people that thought we would lose by seven goals.

“I told them we played with dignity. We are not as fit as the European players. We will keep growing and learning.”

Panama kept Belgium at bay during a goalless first half before Dries Mertens found the net in the second period and Romelu Lukaku added a brace to secure the points for the Red Devils.